Question of the Week: 63 - 10/21/2001Have You Done Any Protection Spells or Workings?Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11th, have you done any protection spells or workings for yourself and your family? Have you done any for the military forces or for the nation? How about something geared toward the biological/chemical threats? Have you participated in any of the calls for a binding spell aimed at stopping/finding those responsible? Do you plan to do something like this in your Samhain rituals this year? Have you asked your Gods/Ancestors/ spirits to watch over you, guard you or aid you in such magickal endeavors? Do you think that the recent events will change how you usually celebrate or participate in Samhain rituals?

The most That I have done since my city & country was attacked on September 11th, is helping to cross over the souls of the victims. THESE SOULS are the most important thing right now, not political spells or binding spells on bin laden & his gang. The confused souls in NYC & DC & maybe even PA should be getting the help from the magickal community at this moment. Many have crossed, but others have not. we can all try & help our fallen brothers & sisters by going to these sites in meditation & showing them where they need to go, by comforting them & telling them that by going on they will be alright! You cannot force them though. You can only comfort & enourage.

In college, 4 years ago, I worked at the Borders Books & Music at the foot of the WTC. Building #5, corner of Church St & Vessy Street. It is very easy for me to picture this neighboorhood in my mind. But even if you have never been there, find a picture. Look at it & in your meditation, place yourself there. Across from Building #5, is St. Paul's Chapel. ( This tiny chapel, by the way, that sits at the foot of the site was UNTOUCHED by the falling towers. Not one broken window.) This is where our first President, George Washington, went to Sunday Mass. You can make that a place to work from, in the little chapel yard. Yes, I KNOW, we are not of that faith, but at times like these, is it really that important? Most of the souls that are lost are going to feel more comfortable with that then our summerlands, or Vallhalla or whatever. If not that, use the "White Light" tunnel. It will take them to whatever "heaven" they percieve!

Another suggestion & one I have used, is guiding the souls onto "public transportation". In one of my meditations, I pictured beings of light behind the controls of subways, buses, Fire Trucks, Ambulances. The thought in most of those peoples minds was to GET OUT & GET AWAY. A lot of them may still be trying to do that. Guide them but don't force or lie to them. Tell them its time to go. I cannot stress the importance of the work enough!!! It can be tiring, but do what you can. The season of Samhain is upon us. Use this to the benifit of your work.

Maybe somehow we as a community can come up with a major goal, something clear & concise, something specific to aim our magickal will on, when it comes to Bin Laden & terrorists. Everyone doing different things, will not be as powerful as all of us working together!

Lastly, if you feel you must do SOMETHING, set up guardians at our borders. I have asked Thor, Norse god of thunder & lightning, protector of Midgard ( Earth) to stand & protect our country from more attacks. Stand & protect. I didn't ask him to bash bin Landen's head in ( which he would love to do & may do so on his own volition) but I asked for PROTECTION! Plain & simple! Its been going around that people were invoking Athena, goddess of justice & war ( amongst other things) To stand with our gov't to make proper, educated dicisions. Invoke & ask aid. Leave the how, what , why & when to THE GODS!Be safe & love each other,Trinity

I Can't Say That I've Done Anything 'extra' Or 'unusual' As A...

Oct 15th. at 5:27:59 pm UTC

AvaNadia (Boston, Massachusetts US)

Age: 20

I can't say that I've done anything 'extra' or 'unusual' as a result of Sept. 11. I have double-checked the wards I have up around my own living space, and asked for the Goddess to protect myself and my loved ones, but I'd do that anyway.

I don't plan on doing any binding rituals or anything like that - I believe that those who committed and planned this act will get what's coming to them, without my interference. I'm just going to trust the Gods to take care of this one, and to take care of me.

Not being terribly into spells, and wards and the such - I can say that the answer to that is "no, I haven't done anything extra-special in the wake of 9-11)."

People need to be aware and wary of their surroundings in the days to come. In the Nordic traditions that I work from, vigilance is the key to overcoming any tragedy or any possible foe. It's vigilance that we need to have as members of the Pagan community for the days to come. Vigilance against both the terrorists following a perverted view of Islam, and against our own country, in the chance that a perversion of our base-level laws can occur.

Tyr will provide the justice needed for the victims of this tragedy, but he cannot provide the protections we need to keep events like this from happening again. We, the voting community of America, are entrusted with that particular responsibility.

I say that I don't do any extra magickal workings in the wake of the 9-11 tragedy...that's only partially true. While I don't hold it as a magickal rite, as an ex-USAF combat veteran of the Gulf War, I light an extra candle every night for those who carry forth our military's force in the battle against OB-L. The candle is light in the hopes that the object is met, and that all come home safely. Bravo to these brave men and women and the "nasty" job that they do in the name of our freedoms.

On the evening of 9-11-01 I did my blessings and a memorial for those who lost their lives . I lit three candles: White, Blue and Green.After the white candle was lit I said, For all those souls , human and non-human that lost their lives today in this attack may you walk in light and love, so mote it be. When I lit the Blue candle, I said.Divine Mother , Divine Father heal your children physically, mentally and spiritually and allow Justice to prevail not REVENGE.Has I lit the third candle which is Green for our Earth, our home I called uponThe Morrigan with Anubus (Celtic Goddess of the battlefied, dead and the Egyptian God of the Dead).I usually dont mix deity but these names just rolled off my tongue/ to lead the dead to the outerworld and to protect our men and women in the miltary because my son is in the military.

That night in my dream I dreamed of The Morrigan and she was at ground zero-WTCI asked her if we are safe? She replied in my dream, "My daughter there is more to come " .."this disaster is not from higher powers but from stupid, foolish men". I woke up after hearing that my son will be safe and not to worry about him because he is followering his destiny & good forces are with our Military .I plan on doing something on Samhain, with my sisters and brothers in The Craft ...and yes I will be calling upon my ancestors and upon Deity for Positive , healing endeavors. Brightest Blessings to all. B. Dawn Cates

I had just moved into a new apartment the week before 9/11, so I did a warding as a matter of course before I moved everything in. It covers my entire living space. Several years ago, a lovely visualization was introduced into my imagination - sorry to say I can't remember what book it came from now - but it involves visualizing the outline of one's entire space, floor to ceiling, in a grid of blue lines of force. At least, I see them in blue - blue has always been a protective color for me. At any rate, as the events of the past weeks have unfolded, I have always felt that I have a secure "home base". I also routinely visualize that protective blue light surrounding myself and my loved ones. An interesting thing has happened to me since this thing began - I can no longer feel "right" about stopping with the people I love. I find myself expanding that protective visualization to strangers, to people I hardly know, to people I don't particularly like, until it surrounds the entire globe. In my morning chants, I have added the line "may all beings be safe from harm".I am still ambivalent about binding, so I haven't gone down that road Workwise.I think it is likely that I will spend this Samhain reflecting on the impermanence of life, and on how the greater world moves along, year after century after millenium. I think that the recent events have brought me closer to my own core truths. Things that are truly Important to me have come into clearer focus. I have even begun to take myself and my small life a little less seriously as a result of this global tragedy. I think that the same will be true for my Samhain celebration - this crisis has brought me closer to the deeper meaning of the holy days I celebrate. I also have an awesome Amazon Warrior costume, should I find a costume party to attend...:)Love, peace and blessings to everyone, and may all beings be safe from harm.

Faith precedes the Miracle, after all you can do. Since safety and security are ultimately our own matter, we need to secure our physical lives and affairs ourselves. Prayer and protective magicks should be as much a part of life as anything else. While I certainly have made it a point to talk to Hermes, Heru, and others where travel is concerned, I'm much more inclined to pray that all travellers find Peace and safety in their voyages. Lots of people are nervous on planes and in airports with uniformed soldiers with loaded weapons around--I somehow find no reason to fault them in that.

On the 4th of October, I got on an American Airlines flight to Texas. The tenseness of everyone on the plane was noteworthy and I honestly had not expected it, given the uneventful and unanxious flight to Toronto the preceding week. However, when I saw the Dead roaming the crowded plane among the living, matters became a lot clearer. I spared part of my lunch for them, and generally wished everyone Peace. Needless to say, it was a terribly long flight for a lot of people.

Samhain is for the Dead. Coming closer to a difficult Samhain will necessitate some extra care, and make a little more effort than perhaps we have in the past. Few understand the need to care for the dead at this time and even fewer will actually undertake the intense work that may be needed to help quell the storms in the spirit world. Affirmation of Life also requires affirmation of Death and to avoid either is to neglect both. It is my firm believe that the spiritual costs of that neglect are much higher than most of us realize. We should strive as pagans to come to grips with what our obligations are to the dead and exercise them in this time. It will be how we deal with affairs such as this, and who we choose to work for, that will define pagans as a group and paganism as a religion.

Samhain upcoming, as well as in future years, have come into focus for me as a much more important time for the working for the Dead. Western Christian burial traditions are austere, and don't do the job, especially when there are no bodies to bury. Believe me when I say that it is likely that many of the WTC dead literally went up in the smoke--and a quick trip past a house with a POW/MIA flag out in front of it, a remnant of Vietnam, lets us all know that not having a body to bury denies many in our culture closure in times like these.

I have noted for myself that our lack of care for the affairs of the dead will ultimately leave us ill-prepared to care for the living. Both must be done together, lest we fail both groups. This goes double or triple in the wake of such a monstrous catastophe. The danger is in forgetting the balance, the acknowledgement, and the process of mourning. I find grief counselors to be a terribly predatory lot, and I always knew that funeral industry were only in it for the bucks.

The names of the dead and missing are many, both in the US and overseas in places like Afghanistan. Those who died to protect and aid the living should receive additional honor, as should those who left behind children. But we should also seek out the names of the undocumented aliens whose names may not be known, because they were not part of any employment roster. It's a very large task, but a worthy one, and we shouldn't turn from it. This is part of what we are. Finding ways to offer quiet comfort to the dead, so that they can get on about their business, is what Samhain is about. I pray we all do what is needed now, as well as in the future.

Although I tend to be a pacifist in my every day life, I am far from a pushover. I really do wish there were a better solution for what happened than war, but I have to be realistic.This is not the first time these people have attacked us. We have tried to have the people turned over for punishment, but it hasn't worked. It has been happening for years, and it keeps getting worse. I guess I just don't want to see what could possibly be worse than what happened on Sept. 11th.

I have been a solitary witch since Yule of 99, when the Spirits guided me, and I felt that "Coming Home Feeling". This is important because I really never took any fomral lessons from experienced witches/pagans/or shamans, so I've been relying on books, taking what I need and introscepting them through meditative thought. This comes to my spell, I usually do NOT prepare for a spell untill aobut 15 minutes before hand, which includes writting out the spell.So there I was doing a negative energy releasal spell(including stress) for my eldest brother, who unfortunitely chose to go into the airforce, why I don't know. I was doing the power chant for the pinicle of hte spell, and a force not to my knowlegde of being divine or nature or spirit started to sway me gentelly back and forth. Needless to say it helped, I haven't talked to him yet, but I feel the vibes have worked.I am opposed to all this BUSH related violence towards the Taleban, (I am an American, and that means I will fight for freedom) but there are other ways around the problem. The problem is that they are narow minded individuals that run our government, and ALMOST all governments. So they don't want the difficult solution. My celebratory coven is doing a full Samhaim ritual lasting all New Years Eve and into the morning. The energy raised wil help to find a safe solution to this horrific problem.

I have not done workings as of this day, but yes, I plan on doing a ritual along with my Samhain celebration. Samhain is, after all, a holiday to remember those who have passed and to honor those people. I am greatly troubled by the loss of life, and that we are at war, but my main focus will be on well being of the spirits of those who have gone, and to help their families heal their grieving hearts.

I definitely will be doing a ritual for safety for our boys and girls in the military - I have a friend who is a marine and though he may not be called to service, I still worry about him.

I actually don't know if I will do a binding to help catch those who perpertrated this hideous crime, but it is something that I have considered.

I will be asking for protection from the Gods and spirits and elements, certainly. I am very afraid of biological warfare, more so than bombing. I don't know why but I am.

Yes I know these events will change the way I celebrate Samhain this year. I plan on composing a melody to honor those who suffered in this tragedy and playing it on Samhain night. I know it isn't much, but perhaps it will help someone.

I have been Wiccan for 8 yrs. now and I have never came so close to breaking "an ye harm none do as ye will" as I have in the past month. I have decided to put all this pent up energy towards "protecting" those in our home land rather than "harming" those who are causing the problem. I pray for Pres. Bush and the officials that they may think clearly and be able to think ahead to prevent anything else from taking place on our Soil.On Samhain I have a practice of writing down that which I want to be forgotten or that which I don't like about myself and then buring it in the fire. This Samhain I will place a plate at my dinner table for all those lost in the WTC crash. I will also include the word "confusion" on my list to be put to the fire. They aim to confuse us, it is their goal. In a state of confusion no one can focus on the task at hand. Who knows what they are doing while all of our health department officals are running around trying to figure out the Anthrax scares? On my list of things I wish for in the next year I will add the word "clarity". We know that their true intentions are to kill all of us, but we are confused as to how they plan on doing it. I seek for us to have enough Clarity to clear the smoke and see the true thinkings of these sad people.

May the Goddess and God help us all.

I Plan To Do A Three-fold Ritual This Samhain Calling Upon The...

Oct 17th. at 1:21:30 pm UTC

Moonfire (Montague, Massachusetts US)

Age: 40

I plan to do a three-fold ritual this Samhain calling upon the Morrigan to inspire and protect those our people and allies but to seek out those responsible and bring them to justice, Danu to keep safe the innocent refugees, and Pan to send the opposing forces into confusion.

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